


Christmas Wish

by YumeArashi



Series: Haven werewolf 'verse [3]
Category: Haven (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Troubles (Haven), Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Christmas Fluff, Did I mention fluff?, Domestic Fluff, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Found Family, Found Family Feels, Multi, OT3, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-13 20:55:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12992337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YumeArashi/pseuds/YumeArashi
Summary: What Christmas looks like for Haven's Three Gulls werewolf pack





	Christmas Wish

**Author's Note:**

> I suppose you don't *have* to have read [my werewolf 'verse](http://archiveofourown.org/series/700560) in order to read this, but it will be confusing if you haven't.

After so many years, the Three Gulls Haven pack had Christmas down to a fine art.

Late afternoon on Christmas eve, Dwight and Jennifer loaded the girls and their overnight packs into the car, drove to pick up Gloria, and headed for the Rouge.  They never got further than parking at the dock before they were swarmed with small hyperactive bodies and excited cries.  Audrey, Duke and Nathan followed the kids at a more leisurely pace, reminding them to play gently and helping bring everything in.

A pot of peppermint hot chocolate was always on the stove to welcome and warm the travelers, and Duke handed mugs into small eager hands to Nathan’s annual admonition of “Just one or you’ll spoil your appetite!”

The huge mountain of presents under the tree was an immediate draw, and was thoroughly investigated with curious hands, sharp eyes, and usually, sniffing noses.

The adults sat back with their own mugs of hot chocolate, each lightly spiked to its owner’s liking, admiring the décor and watching the children play.  The pack always went to fantastic lengths decorating the Rouge inside and out, with everything from elegant spun-glass ice castles to the clumsiest toddler-made paper chains.  It was a riot of color, but it formed the very picture of Christmas that Audrey, Nathan, and Duke had all wanted growing up but never had.

The Rouge was also a riot of noise and movement as well as color, moreso every year.  Jean and James had been joined by Ginger and Hailie and Benny, and Jennifer and Dwight had adopted Amelia and Sophie and Frankie and were considering more.  Gloria - ‘Grandma Gloria’ here, always - jokingly wondered every year how she’d had no kids herself but ended up with more grandkids than anyone in Haven.

After a little relaxation, Audrey and Nathan - who had long ago been forbidden from cooking - were left to watch the kids as the others went to help Duke prepare the Christmas eve feast.  Food being the only thing that could call the kids away from the mountain of mysterious treasures, soon everyone was ranged around the table eagerly.  The centerpiece was always a magnificent roast, a whole beef tenderloin rubbed down with herb salt and studded with garlic.  But even that wasn’t enough for a crowd that size, so it was joined by a golden-brown roast goose and a whole salmon poached with lemon and dill.  Side dishes ranged from ginger-maple glazed carrots and balsamic-bacon brussels sprouts to twice-baked potatoes and spiced yams and home-baked bread.

Naturally a dinner like that could only be followed by relocating to what James had dubbed ‘the pack-pile room’ - a large room floored with mattresses, carpeted in blankets, and piled with pillows and quilts and comforters, with an entertainment system mounted on one wall.  Everyone piled together (being careful to avoid pressure on overstuffed stomachs) and happily settled in for whichever Christmas movie had been voted on that year.

Duke had long since fitted the Rouge out with many rooms for the expanding pack and guests, so after the movie when everyone was sufficiently sleepy, anyone who wasn’t in the mood to simply sleep in the pack pile drifted off to various rooms.

Duke and Audrey and Nathan had worked out a system as soon as Jean and James had been old enough to understand and get excited over Christmas.  Nathan, ever the early bird, woke at the first rush of little feet into the stateroom.  As the kids dug into full stockings and the small ‘Santa’ gifts (strategically left unwrapped to give the kids something to play with while Audrey slept a little longer and Duke slept a lot longer), Nathan watched and recorded and beamed with joy.  As the pack grew he was later joined by Dwight, an equally early riser.  Gloria got up around the same time as Audrey, and Jennifer and Duke both slept until late morning.

Once everyone was up, the first order of business was of course presents.  The kids took it in turn to play Santa, fetching the presents from under the tree and delivering them to their intended recipients.  It was a predictable frenzy of shredded wrapping paper, torn bows, and squeals of delight, accompanied by much hugging and kisses.

After the gift exchange, a spectacular Christmas brunch got underway - bacon, eggs, ham, homemade sausage, fresh-squeezed orange juice, fruit bowls, muffins and biscuits, and of course waffles and pancakes.

Once the brunch was cleared away and the gift wrapping was disposed of, a marathon of Christmas movies was queued up and a casual spread of nibbles was set out for grazing.  It had become tradition for the extended pack to stop by, and the afternoon saw a steady stream of visitors.  Beattie, Stan, Tracy and her family, Henry, Eleanor, Laverne, Claire, Vickie and her father and Jordan, Bill McShaw, any number of other supernaturals they’d rescued or helped or resettled in Haven - even the Audrey Parker of the FBI had gotten in the habit of coming up for visits.  Any Havenite who was alone or unable to celebrate was invited, and there were always at least a few at-risk teens who’d been offered a welcome.  The Rouge became a happy hub of chatter, the front closet swelled with winter coats and snowy boots, mugs full of cocoa and spiced cider were passed around, the snacks were appreciatively devoured.

As afternoon wore into evening and the guests trickled away, Dwight and Jennifer and the girls helped with the cleanup before heading out to drop off Gloria on their way home.  Duke and Nathan and the older children cast off from the dock, and Duke took the Rouge over to what they’d all come to think of as ‘their’ island.  It was best on full moon Christmasses, the wild moonlight and the all-night romping before tumbling to sleep in a pile.  But even when the moon wasn’t full they would play in the snow, sometimes as humans with sleds and snowmen, the next minute as wolves racing around and tearing up the untouched snow.

It was, Duke thought every year as he drifted off to sleep, everything he could ever want for Christmas.

 


End file.
